Spartans Tie Ephs 1-1, Williams Advances in PK's

Nov 21, 2009

YORK, PA – The second-ranked York College men’s
soccer team saw their 2009 campaign come to a disenchanting close
Saturday afternoon, as Williams College bested the Spartans in a
penalty-kick shootout in the NCAA Sweet 16. The Spartans (17-1-5)
and #13 Ephs (16-2-2) battled to a 1-1 tie throughout the 110
minutes of action before Williams used a 7-6 result in the shootout
to advance to the Elite Eight.

Early on, the Spartans, who had been chosen to host the sectional
rounds this weekend, looked as if they may pull away. Just 4:05
into the match, Jon Ports (Baltimore,
Md./McDonogh) put the Green and White up 1-0 with his
seventh tally of the season. Classmate Travis Williams
(Springfield, Pa./Springfield Township) fed Ports along
the right side of the pitch allowing the speedy Ports to get just
ahead of his defender. Given a split second to shoot, the
All-American slipped the game’s opening salvo into the
left-side netting to provide York with the 1-0 advantage.

The Spartans nearly stretched their lead to two in the 22nd
minute. Ports brilliantly created another opportunity for the Green
and White along the right endline. From there, the senior forward
slipped a beautiful ball back toward the penalty spot where
Antonio Bua (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg)
ran onto the pass. Bua laced a ripper that sailed over the bar
howver, and out for a harmless goal kick.

The latter part of the first period belonged to the Ephs as
Williams began to push the offense. That attacking effort resulted
in the tying score in the match’s 43rd minute. Angus Kennedy
passed a seemingly harmless ball to Patrick Ebobisse 35 yards from
goal along Williams’ left side. Ebobisse unleashed an
unbelievable left-footed missile that found the back of the Spartan
net, knotting the score at 1-1.

After halftime, Williams drew on their first half momentum as they
pushed their attack early in the second period. The Ephs posted a
pair of quality chances to open the half, but senior goalkeeper
Ryan Hock (Brookeville, Md./Sherwood) stood tall
as he and the Spartan defense kept the score at 1-1.

In the 62nd minute, Lucas Emil (Parsippany, N.J./Morris
Catholic) and Aaron Good (Elizabethtown,
Pa./Elizabethtown Area) combined beautifully with
Kemal Nuspahic (East Petersburg, Pa./Warwick) to
lead to another dangerous opportunity for the Spartans.
Nuspahic’s shot went begging however as it was collected by
Williams’ goalkeeper Andrew Graham.

Both sides would record dangerous chances during the final minutes
of regulation but neither could break through, allowing the match
to spill into overtime.

The first overtime period proved much of the same as both teams
pushed to notch the game-winner, but neither was able to find
paydirt.

Quite possibly the best chance of the entire afternoon came
following an Eph foul in the second overtime. From nearly 45 yards
out along the right side, junior Adam Good (Elizabethtown,
Pa./Elizabethtown Area) played an exceptional service to
the far left post where Bua snapped a diving header just yards from
the goal. In a display of incredible reflexes, Williams’
Graham was able to collapse onto Bua’s attempt without
spilling a rebound to keep the score knotted at 1-1.

With penalty kicks to decide who would advance, the Spartans took
a 1-0 lead after the first takers. Both sides would make their
second, third, and fourth attempts, before York’s fifth
ricocheted off the crossbar and Williams’ found the back of
the net.

Now into a sudden victory situation, the Spartans and Ephs each
made their ensuing two tries – numbers six and seven of the
shootout. Than Finan, who had replaced Graham in the
Williams’ goal specifically for the shootout, came up with
the save on the York’s eighth kicker. Finan’s stop set
up Matt Ratajczak who knocked home the decisive tally for the
Ephs.

That 7-6 result proved the fourth time in five seasons that the
York side has been ousted from the NCAA Tournament by a
penalty-kick shootout.

With the shootout result, the Spartans bid adieu to their seven
seniors – Hock, Ports, Williams, Aaron Good, Scott
Becker (Hockessin, Del./Salesianum), Brett
Sauerberger (Little Silver, N.J./Monmouth Regional), and
Justin Suchoski (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) . Over
the past four seasons, the Green and White have put together an
incredible 77-4-11 record for a .896 winning percentage. Since
2006, the Spartans have garnered two Capital Athletic Conference
Tournament championships and four consecutive trips to the NCAA
Tournament.

To date, including York’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament
in 2005, the Spartans have posted a record of 7-1-5 in NCAA
postseason play. York’s only true defeat came at the hands of
Middlebury, 2-0, in 2007 as the Panthers went on to win the NCAA
National Championship title that season.

Williams now moves on to face #4 Christopher Newport University in
Sunday’s Elite Eight Round from York’s Graham Field at
1:00 pm. The Captains also advanced by way of a penalty-kick
shootout as they topped Stevens Institute of Technology 4-2 in
penalties after a scoreless 110 minutes of play.

The match proved exceptionally tight as both squads had numerous
chances. Stevens actually outshot the Captains 16-15 while
Christopher Newport held a 10-2 bulge in corners. Captain
goalkeeper Justin Wolfe came up with nine saves on the afternoon as
he did his part to keep the match scoreless while Duck netminder
Zach Carr picked up four stops.

For more NCAA Tournament information from the York (Pa.) site
please click here.